Ants in my P*ants!!!

I planted up my large blue pot back in May, with a pink theme this year. It was doing well – I fed and watered it, and this is how it was doing in June…

Getting better in July….

But – what’s happened here? In August, some of the plants have died, and others are looking very sorry for themselves!

I couldn’t bear to look at this any longer, so I decided to take out the remaining plants and find a few replacements.

When I saw Fuchsia ‘Blackie’ I knew that had found my new ‘theme’ – I bought two at a very reasonable price. They’re full of buds, so they should last until the first frosts, I hope.

I also bought two Nemesia ‘Fleurie Blue’ which I hoped would ‘go’ happily with ‘Blackie’. A Coleus ‘Black Dragon’ for the centre, and two Alternanthera ‘Purple Knight’ completed my set of plants.

So I started to remove the plants, threw out the dead and dying ones and kept some back for cuttings and maybe some colour in a smaller container. There are still buds on the Argyranthemums, after all!

Then I scraped off the top layer of compost and discovered why the plants had not done well! AN ANTS’ NEST right in the middle of the pot!

Instead of adding a layer of compost, I had to tip the whole lot out onto a plastic sheet! The ants were not happy! I kept well clear of them!

I cleaned out the inside of the pot well, and rescued the crocks…carefully…Then I brought a barrow load of fresh compost from the greenhouse to re-fill the pot. Of course, my friend Henry came too – a nose poked in and nudged me just as I was pouring a scoop of compost into the barrow! He was most surprised when half of it ended up over his head! Shame the camera was back with the pot! He did look funny. Lucky it missed his eyes, though. Nosey, or what!

I placed the pots to make sure the arrangement would look good all round, and then planted it up.

So here it is – my newly-planted pot.

I’d like to know if anyone else has had similar problems with ants, though – and is there anything I can do to stop this happening?

Love your new planting Spritz :) Not sure if this helps with ants, but if I'm planting up a container, I cut up a pair of old tights and stretch a piece of fabric over the drainage hole in the pot, to stop vine weevil getting in, and weigh it down with the crocks. It may deter ants, I dunno...just a thought :)

Out of adversity beauty will triumph, Spritz. The new planting is lovely.

I've had two pots full of ants so far this year and a huge nest in a compost bin. Fortunately I found them in the pots before it became a terminal situation but there do seem to be huge numbers of ants around this year.

I enjoyed your blog Spritz and the new plants look great. The first 2 weeks in August seem to be the time when flying ants appear too. I dont think you can stop the little devils .... how on earth do they survive the watering!

Hi Spritz, Thats a beauty all right, I really like the dark colours (as you know) Lol
The only way I have found to get rid of ants, without resorting to chemicals, is to disrupt the nest (by digging into it) and then liberal amounts of boiling water straight from the kettle.
Harsh? very, does it work? absolutely.
Don't forget that this time of year the 'flying' ants will be leaving the nests and setting up 'home' where ever they feel inclined! ! !
I had a very bad experience about 5 years ago when we were woken about 5 am by Holly screaming, she was about 6 months old at the time, when we got into her room we found her literally covered in ants. They were in her ears, her eyes and anywhere else you care to imagine. We called the council 'bug catcher', after we had rescued her obviously, and he explained this idea to me as the only non toxic way to deal with them.
He also charged me £60 for the privalage! ! !

I've no idea B. the kettle is cheaper.
I guess just by disturbing the nest enough they will get the idea and leave, especially if you keep going back to it.
Our local council has one of the highest counil tax rates in the country and the cost of repairs is rediculous.
When we moved in here, about 4 years ago, we had both outside doors open and the front door slammed shut and broke the glass. I rang them to come and repair it and was told I would have to pay! ! !
The repair man came and boarded it up? then the next day the same man came back and replaced the glass. I got charged a total of nearly £90 for it. Roughly half for boarding it up and the rest for him having to come out and replace the glass???? I did ask but they just said that was their policy and if I didn't pay they would send it to a debt collection agency! ! !

Unbelievable! Imagine charging that much just to tell you something!
Perth council wont deal with ants because the whole of Perth is a giant abnthill! Theyre a nightmare in summer!
I've had to go against all my beliefs & start killing them now.
I use Ian's method, because it's quick & effective. poisins kill them slowly.
BUT, Fantastic pot Spritz! The first version was lovely too.

You could try mixing Borax with icing sugar. I think it's one part Borax to 4 parts sugar. The idea is that the ants like the sugar and take the whole lot back to the nest where the Queen also eats it. When the borax is ingested with the sugar it kills the ants. It's supposed to take about 7 days. You put a little pile of the sugar mix somewhere close to, but not right on the nest. They'll find it and eat it.

I would recommend the same as Gilli. That is what my sister used to do around the perimeter of the bedrooms when it was really bad out. They had some similar incident to Ian's with my nephew.
I really like the new arrangement. The first one was also lovely. You have a knack for arranging them, knowing what to put together. Well done.

Just to put a spanner in the works, Borax is very poisonous and adding it to icing sugar would, I think, be to much for Henry to bare. I'm sure you have already thought of this but I would hate anything to happen to your lovely big fellow.

lovely planting as usual. i found flying ants emerging from the cracks between the top slabs of the pond. I just hope they have not excavated down to the liner.
I will try the borax sugar mix for them and see. Far to many ants around this year for my liking.

I have used Ian's method which definitely works in the right place. Also have used ant killer you can buy in an almost sealed flat container so that ants can get in and get the poison but animals cannot, called 'Antstop' I think. Worked OK but needed to do it again later on as they came back Both your planters look absolutely lovely (we would expect nothing else from you!)

Sorry about your display Spritz, your new one is lovely.....as for ants we have millions on either side of the path, leading to the washing line, and I mean millions, after reading an article on ant behaviour I cannot bring myself to pour boiling water on them (used to years ago) so I just water them with cold water, and hope for the best, a million of them flew off a few days ago, but we still have many more left!! thats life...

I know they have a place...but I wish they'd leave my pots alone! I have problems too when I'm on hands and knees weeding the borders or edging, and suddenly get bitten! Then I find I've knelt on yet another ant-hill, and the ants don't like me on it!

Spritz, both arrangements was & is just lovely, I really enjoyed to look at both arrangements. I think U were right, just start all over again, but will remember Gilli recipe to get rid of those little suckers.

Hi there is a member of the mint family called "penny royal" (dont know the botanical name) which when you see ants nests they really detest it you can sprinkle on some leaves and they will move away - obviously ok in a pot but not much help for killing them. If I see some coming into my patio doors I put the leaves down and it seems to stop them.

Lovely blog I enjoyed it all about the ants first Bamboo said on here that ants heard the aphids so they can get the sweet sap I think he said so if you see ants you will get aphids. There is a product which I have bought from Tesco also B&Q which are little plastic pots with ant killer in I have them to stop them comming into my house, you allow them to go into the pot they then take the poison back to the nest and kill the nest, instructions say place near nest. Also there are plants which deter ants if planted close to your pots Penny Royal is one and I think Tansy too, if place by your doors they will not enter your home either. hope this helps you.

Both versions are beautiful, but I do think I like the second one better...I should check my pots for ants..my geraniums are doing very poorly...but it might just be the heat...but I wonder if ants could have gotten in there...

Ants CAN be a major problem at times. When we lived in Spain, in a 5th floor flat, we had them climbing all the way up from the ground just to get into our kitchen! As the kitchen looked out onto an enormous interior patio & the walls of the building were painted white I was able to see a l o n g thin black line moving up & down the wall. They were very tiny ants as well! We got rid of them using the boiling water method but unfortunately we had to resort to a chemical spray as well.

Well back then we didn't think twice about killing off any insect that came into the house or that attacked my plants. We often used a chemical barrier spray around the doors & windows so that if they (insects of any kind) tried to get into the flat they had to cross the barrier which killed them off. Seems cruel now but back then we didn't think twice about it!

As I was writing this a "Daddy longlegs" flew into my computer screen. I shooed it away - no chemical sprays any longer - & closed the balcony door.

Last year my entire lawn was one massive ants nest and i tried using everything out there, i even did the boiling water and ruined half my lawn but a couple of days later they were back. I discovered something called Nemasys® No Ants which you mix with water and pour over your lawn, and it did the job. all ants nest disappeared and i got my lawn back. its a bit pricey but i would fully recommend it. Just paste the link below in to your web browser and take a look.

An aardvark is similar to an anteater Spritz. They have big ears and a long snout which looks similar to a long pig's snout. Henry and an aardvark would get along a treat. If you get a female you could name it Henrietta! LOL